SYDNEY A large contingent of Australia's emerging athletes will compete at the East Asian Games starting in Osaka on May 19.

The Australian Olympic Committee has selected one of the largest, and most inexperienced, teams to compete in Japan with a view toward the 2004 Athens and 2008 Olympic Games.

The team of 300 athletes is sprinkled with proven stars but dominated by some of the country's emerging athletes, who are expected to form the nucleus of Australia's future Olympic campaigns.

Assistant Chef de Mission Craig Phillips said the sporting bodies had been asked to select teams commensurate with the level of competition they would face in Osaka.

That means the swimming team, women's basketball team and men's soccer team have all been selected with a view to the future, AFP reported.

Australia will be represented by the young socceroos -- Australia's under 20 side -- in football, while Lauren Jackson has led an exodus to the United States of players from the women's basketball team which won the silver medal at the Sydney Games.

"It's a bit of a mixture," Phillips said Wednesday. "Some sports such as handball, boxing and others are sending their better athletes because the standard of competition tests them.

"Other sports are picking developing groups so they're starting to blood new players.

"It's going to be great for giving another international competition exposure to athletes who might not get it.

"Another benefit from our point of view is that it gives the athletes exposure of being part of a bigger team."

Australia has been invited to the games as a guest nation and will not compete for medals.

China, Hong Kong, Japan, South Korea, Macau, Mongolia, Taiwan and Kazakhstan will be taking part in the games along with Guam, another guest member.